Summer Time = Recovery Time

It wouldn’t be summer time in our house if someone wasn’t in recovery. Last summer it was Ryker and Evan. This summer it’s Keagan. While going in for a tackle at soccer tryouts, another boy shot the ball just as Keagan’s foot rest on the ball. His knee shifted as his leg was forced back. After a trip to the ER, an appointment at the orthopedic wing, and a visit to the brace shop, he’s wearing this. 

No sports for 4-6 weeks. Even if he has a tear, surgery is not an option. Just rest. Ice. Elevate. Ibuprofen. Repeat. To compensate for his pain, his boredom, and crappy luck, I took him shopping for new athletic clothes. The irony is not lost on me.

Weekend Sports Update

Basketball season came to a close today for Keagan’s middle school team. They lost in round one of the district playoffs. I’m not sure I want to commemorate a losing season, but one day the losses will mean nothing and we will remember middle school basketball with fondness.

At least seeing the boys dressed like this on game days will be remembered with fondness.

We only won three games the entire season, so losing by six to the second seed was actually quite the accomplishment. Keagan assured me next year is the year. He said that this year, though, too.

He won’t let anyone forget he started as a seventh grader and was the only seventh grader to get any playing time in varsity games. 

Meanwhile, Evan and I were in Atlanta for a soccer showcase tournament. We had the privilege of playing at a complex that can best be described as the Mecca of Soccer Complexes. We played some fairly good teams, and we still came home with two wins. I might also mention it was cold - especially when you arrive at the fields prior to the sunrise.

We also ran into some of our soccer friends from Georgia. Catching up with friends, and soccer friends at that, always makes for a great weekend!

One Weekend and Ten Games

One weekend, ten games, and I lived to tell you about it. We played games in Nashville, Madison, Smyrna, and Hendersonville. In other words, I put about 1,000 miles on my car driving through Nashville and all of its environs. In between games we ate nachos, hot dogs, pizza by the slice, and ice cream. The boys thought it was the perfect spent weekend. I came home ready for my Kindle and bed.

On Monday Keagan had an extra credit assignment due for math class.

Yep, I made no mistake in mentioning math class. We made a diorama of the rain forest for math class. When we finished, I proclaimed this was the reason the US is currently ranked 49th in the world in math, and Evan corrected me and said we are now ranked 50th.

Case in point.

How many weeks until summer vacation?

The Week's End of Wins

We are in deep shock on this Sunday night contemplating what could have possibly gone wrong this weekend. We have no explanations for how both football games and both soccer games ended in losses. I know. You are in shock, too, because you know that it couldn't possibly be due to my boys' lack of skills or talent because I sing their praises every chance I get. Rest assured, we blame it all on the wind and Keagan's lack of wrist bands.

Oh, those lovely plush bands that were now matted with dirt, milk, and the juice of multiple tangelos. They were in need of a good wash, and I didn't want my boys wearing the Jane Fonda sweat bands to begin with, much less now that the color was no longer easily recognizable. I have been told the wrist bands are not accessories but actually serve some important role when it comes to winning. That role has not been defined for me as yet, but they are ready for next Saturday's series of games just the same.

We didn't know what to do on Saturday when Team United lost only its second game in six seasons. We did what anyone does in mourning. We ate. We ate some more. And then we had dessert. Zum Rhinegarten allowed us to bury our sorrows in great food and we left in much better spirits.

We woke up Sunday morning feeling certain Sunday would be a much better day. The green dragons were just not fierce enough, though, and we lost. We did what our experience from Saturday night taught us. We ate. Risotto covered in olive oil and butter did just the trick. We topped it all off with ice cream.

I now have a week for the palms of my hands to recover from the constant stinging I now feel after hours of encouraging hand clapping and fist clenching cheers. I also have a week for my heels to recover from hours of jumping up and down and then writhing in pain with each opposing team's score.

With my own healthy heels and Keagan's clean wrist bands, I feel certain next weekend will end with wins. And if it doesn't, I will be forced to purchase a pair of orthopedic shoes. Black, thick soled, old lady shoes.

Amazingly my heels feel better already.

Weekend Sports Update #6

Patriots Football
It would have been great if we could have won this game. The coaches for the other team play dirty and a win would have been sweet revenge. Not that I am a vengeful person or anything.... 

Rockies T-Ball Last game of the fall season
I asked if the coaches planned to take a team again in the spring, but they didn't seem too interested. Since all four of their boys play in the dirt and try to skip playing as much as possible, I feel certain that is a negative. If we are here in March, then I need to start shopping for a new coach. Keagan asked if Italians play baseball, and I told him no. I didn't have the heart to tell him that it appears the Army has yet another plan for our lives and we won't be living in Italy next summer, but since I have no idea where we will be living, I said nothing. It wouldn't matter anyway because just as soon as we were actually told, it would change all over again. As you can clearly read, I have no hard feelings over the situation at all. I am completely fine with the idea of living in the midst of Confederate flags and humidity higher than any human should have to endure.

United Soccer
What's so say that hasn't been blogged in the last three years? Evan scored and we won! 

Icebergs Soccer

Keagan scored again and again; our team won.

Weekend Sport Update: #5

Patriots Football
Only three mothers actually attended today's football game. While the other two mothers looked at fashion magazines and sat curled up under their umbrellas with their coats pulled tightly around their waists, I was walking the sidelines in the rain with all of the dads cheering for the Patriots. I really don't know how anyone can sit because I feel compelled to yell encouraging words like, "Pursue the angles, Evan" and "run him out of bounds" and "stay deep", and the boys can't hear you if you aren't standing right there in the middle of the action. I have no idea why I waited so long to sign Evan up for flag football, and I am already stressed about finding a flag football team in Italy. Evan plays and loves football like Keagan plays and loves soccer. The two go hand in hand, and I smell money when he walks onto the field, or at least a scholarship. Okay maybe that is a bit premature, but I would like to believe it is true so I write it.

United Soccer
I guess the threat of rain scared the other team into not showing, or maybe they just didn't want to play Team United. Either way Evan volunteered to play for the other team because he knew he would be guaranteed play time if he did. We are already working on getting him on an Italian soccer team once we get to Vicenza. I have my peeps working on it as we speak. We have explained to Evan that this means he must be willing to learn some Italian. So far it is going really well. He has learned how to say "the man drives the car" and because this is related to youth soccer in so many ways I feel certain that there will be no problems communicating with the other Italian boys.

Icebergs Soccer
I lost count at ten goals, and that was the number Keagan had scored on his own. Seriously. This is the boy that WILL play Italian soccer. Evan told him, "Keagan, you have to play Italian soccer because all of the teams will fight to have you on their team." Keagan said in Italian, "the baby eats", and that was proof that he is more than ready.

We arrived home from our sequence of games just in time because within minutes the bottom fell out of the sky. We washed the mud off of the boys, took some well deserved naps, and then prepared apricot pork chops. Life is great!

Weekend Sports: Update #4

No lost purple socks this weekend. So on Friday evening I didn't waste any time looking for uniforms pieces that don't exist. Instead, I pulled out Evan's mouth guard for flag football because today was his skills camp, and I decided I would get it rinsed off and into his carry case so it would be ready for our early departure on Saturday morning. I was really proud of myself for having everything together and ready to go, and then I was almost knocked over when I stumbled across the words "personal fitting" on the back of the mouth guard package. I read closer and realized a simple rinsing really required a pan of boiling water, a cup of ice water, and then a mouth cast in plastic. All of this at 9:00. So I pulled Evan out of bed and we began the multi-step process of a personal fitting. We had to repeat steps 1-5 several times to get it just right, but I guess it fits just fine now because Evan wore that thing all day, even while walking the aisles of the commissary this afternoon.

Soccer: Team United
Evan's soccer game was probably the most exciting of any game we have ever played, and we had to leave after the first quarter to take Keagan to his t-ball game. Evan had a goal and two fine cross field passes, and I was really upset that we didn't get to stay and watch the rest of the game. I am hoping for a re-match later in the season.

T-Ball: Rockies vs Astros
This game made me realize that when given the option I should have requested Keagan's placement on team Astros. That coach was awesome and I should have known that any team with a Texas name would be the team of choice. Instead, I made the flippant and erroneous statement, "They all are the same to me. Place Keagan on any team." Keagan played one inning before we had to leave yet again to take Evan to football.

Keagan fields the ball and prepares to throw to first base.

Keagan and Coach Scott high five after an out at first base.

Football: Skills Clinic
Evan said it was great fun, but I don't know how much he really learned. I found him daintly holding the football and running in circles around the cones. However, when it was time to scrimmage, he made two "tackles" (I know you don't tackle in flag football but "he removed two flags" doesn't sound nearly as impressive).

All of this driving back and forth, and I realized that if I have a husband that must work on weekends, then I need a grandma / grandpa to help out with the transportation of the children.

 

Weekend Sports Update

I am highly organized. Extremely organized. But as I prepared for our weekend of games Friday night, I had a breakdown and couldn't find any purple t-ball socks. I looked high and low. I finally asked Keagan if it would be okay if he wore the black ones from last season's soccer games. He reminded me that he didn't have purple socks because he was never issued purple socks. I don't know if I was relieved that he wouldn't stick out like a sore thumb at today's pictures, or if I was upset for spending half an hour looking for socks that didn't exist. Anyway, it is only week two and I feel my brain slowly frying. Here's the weekend update:

T-Ball: Rockies vs Yankees
We arrived to the game today at game time, and it was not because of my lack of planning. It is because my dear son Evan really preferred to watch Saturday morning cartoons. I coaxed him upstairs with the threat of sitting out during his own soccer game, and then I found him fifteen minutes later reading a Ben10 comic book. I pushed him out of the front door with socks hanging off his big toes, his jersey sitting on his right shoulder, and soccer cleats in hand. In other words, he was half nude. By my standards that was running behind, but luckily we play for a team that has a very relaxed approach to coaching / playing t-ball. We got to the game and Keagan said in a very adult voice, "Sorry, for being late, Coach. We had some problems with the older brother." 

No score is kept but Keagan had a great hit to center field. He didn't just hit a grounder that the pitcher watched roll between his legs; he actually hit it up in the air and it landed on the tip of the outfield. By the second inning, Keagan learned to play his position and his position only. After fielding every hit in the first inning (whether hit to third, second, or center field it made no difference), Coach Scott persuaded him to stay in his "zone." However, he still prefers to race the batter to first instead of throwing the runner out. In Keagan's case, he is actually guaranteed the out if he runs the ball to first.

Evan left the game asking me if I would sign him up for baseball, too. Sorry, Baby, I draw the line at three sporting events per kid because as I think I mentioned before, my brain is looking to explode.

Soccer: United vs Team White
This game was so one-sided that we only played three full quarters,the opposing team played with a goalie, the opposing team played five players (instead of four), and our coach had Evan and the other three players stand still while the opposing team scored its one and only point. I think the ball crossed the mid-field line five times in the entire game. Even with ear infection number 465, Evan had a great game. 

Which brings me to my latest observation. I am afraid that this new med, anti-biotic ear drops, is no longer as effective as it was when we first used them about twenty ear infections ago. This week it took almost three days to stop the bleeding when it usually only takes one dose. I have no idea what we will do if they continue because there are just so many medicines invented to cure bleeding ears. And I am pretty sure that we have tried them all.

Let the Games Begin

Wes says it is too much, and I have wondered once or twice what I was thinking. However, how could I tell my boys no when they both wanted to play two sports and swim this fall? With longer days at school, and four days of sporting events, I think I am going to be fried by Thanksgiving. Here are the results of Week One.

Keagan's First T-Ball Scrimmage Pirates vs Rockies
Keagan was the first up to bat and he hit a triple. This is of course because any five year old can run better than he can throw a baseball. Then it was time for Keagan's team to take the field. After hitting the first base player in the chest with the ball, Keagan said forget about throwing the runner out. He decided to run the player down. My favorite play was the hit down the third base line. Keagan fielded it and ran it all the way to first base to get the runner out. I had one dad ask, "Have you thought about track?" 

Evan's First Soccer Game of the Fall Season
This season Team United moved up to a new league, and as a result, they play on a larger field with longer quarters. You can bet Evan is gassed at the end of his turn of play. He scored two goals today and had an assist, but the best was to see him use the "surf", the skill he learned this summer at the UK Elite Camp. It is always a relief to see your hard earned money put to good use. 

In three more weeks we get to add flag football to the Saturday routine. I can't wait!